What am I doing wrong?

[lgliser]

Right now we are in FLL 2 and my 8 year olds are struggling with adverbs and adjectives.  Last year I think we spent pretty much the whole year on nouns but this year seems to be going faster and they're just having a hard time grasping parts of speech.

 

I feel like I've been on these boards long enough to know that I will likely be told that it's ok.  They're only 2nd graders and that parts of speech will be covered again and again.  Am I right?  I hope so!  (And as I'm typing those words, I am hoping that they don't sound snarky because they're truly not meant to).

 

So I've always appreciated how quickly our lessons go.  Every subject takes no more than like 20 min (except math but that's another story).  And even though as a homeschool newbie, 20 minutes didn't really seem that long... getting done with our school work by lunch time just hardly seems long enough, I have learned on these boards that it's not only fine, but it's good.

 

But what about when they're not getting it?  Do I just power through the lessons, having them not really understand what they're learning but still getting to check off that lesson for the day?  That doesn't sound right.  So today I pulled up Brain Pop Jr. and we watched a video refreshing us on nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.  Then we took the quizzes at the end of the videos and I was really trying to help them get it.  I was writing on the board so they could see and hopefully understand. 

 

Well apparently my kids are so used to short lessons that they can't handle it when it goes a little longer.  They were just getting so antsy.  Messing with my computer, pushing each other around, being nuts.

 

Is it a problem with me or them?  Should I just let it go and hope that all further repetition makes things sink in?  Or do I try to help them by digging deeper?

[Southern Ivy]

Heck, I had an F in 4th grade grammar because I just didn't get it. I was a straight A student, but grammar at that point just baffled me. I didn't have a decent grasp of it until 6th or 7th. 
I'm no expert and many ladies have way more wisdom than I do, but I'd say to take a break and come back to it when they're a bit more mature. 

On a different note, if you do want to continue, books by Brian P. Cleary are fun for grammar and really seem to help kids grasp the concept. 
http://www.amazon.com/Brian-P.-Cleary/e/B000APG194/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

[OneStepAtATime]

Maybe this isn't the best approach for your particular kids or maybe they need a bit more maturity for these things to make sense to them or maybe this is just a bad spell, etc.  Hard to say.  I am not sure I would keep plowing forward and checking off boxes if they really aren't understanding.

 

FWIW, some kids learn better if they are exposed to a ton of really good literature first.  Read alouds, books on CD, maybe Immersion Reading with a Kindle, lots of discussion and lit projects, maybe some scribing by the parent as the child dictates ideas/stories, etc..  So they are hearing and hopefully sometimes seeing all of these parts of speech being used in context.  In other words, exposure to grammar, concepts, vocabulary, flow, fluency, etc. through books they read themselves but more importantly also books above reading level, with maybe just a tiny bit of explicit breaking down of the components until the child is somewhat older and the more abstract labeling of those components makes more sense.  Some kids just aren't ready for abstracts until later.

 

I don't know.  If you are all getting really frustrated and they don't seem to be making much progress at all, maybe put this aside for now?  Start again next year?   Give them some time for a bit of brain maturity.  Just give them lots of exposure to literature and some fun writing activities.

 

Just to note here, (and I realize this is anecdotal) I did very well with language arts in school.  All through school I received great grades with my writing.  I do not really know how to diagram sentences or even remember most of the labels, though, and because we moved a lot my exposure to structured grammar was quite erratic.   However, I read voraciously and that exposure, IMHO, was far more valuable than drilling parts of speech.  I got a near perfect score on the Language Arts section of the SAT.  I did very well in college, also.  I have seen many people who are good writers that do not necessarily know a ton of explicit grammar labels.  They just feel the language and know how to use it.

 

FTR I am not saying no explicit grammar instruction.  I am just saying that maybe waiting a bit might work better for some kids.

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, and huge hugs, OP.  BTDT.  I know this can be exceedingly frustrating.

[lgliser]

I just checked my library's website and they have those Brian P Cleary books.  I'm getting some, thanks!

 

And "One Step At A Time," thank you too - those cyber hugs actually really mean a lot!!  And I agree - I think this is just a little too abstract right now.  And I really might just put it aside.  I'll read those books that were mentioned above to them and I'll continue our read-alouds too. 

[Arcadia]

My kids don't enjoy grammar lessons but somehow luckily ace grammar portions on state standardized tests. They were in public school.

 

YouTube videos of Schoolhouse Rock was what actually taught my boys parts of speech while laughing through the videos. Reading a lot for leisure help my kids improve their grammar in writing. They didn't like FLL or WWE when I showed them a copy at Barnes & Noble, not their style.

[mamamindy]

Right now we are in FLL 2 and my 8 year olds are struggling with adverbs and adjectives.  Last year I think we spent pretty much the whole year on nouns but this year seems to be going faster and they're just having a hard time grasping parts of speech.

 

I feel like I've been on these boards long enough to know that I will likely be told that it's ok.  They're only 2nd graders and that parts of speech will be covered again and again.  Am I right?  I hope so!  (And as I'm typing those words, I am hoping that they don't sound snarky because they're truly not meant to).

 

So I've always appreciated how quickly our lessons go.  Every subject takes no more than like 20 min (except math but that's another story).  And even though as a homeschool newbie, 20 minutes didn't really seem that long... getting done with our school work by lunch time just hardly seems long enough, I have learned on these boards that it's not only fine, but it's good.

 

But what about when they're not getting it?  Do I just power through the lessons, having them not really understand what they're learning but still getting to check off that lesson for the day?  That doesn't sound right.  So today I pulled up Brain Pop Jr. and we watched a video refreshing us on nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.  Then we took the quizzes at the end of the videos and I was really trying to help them get it.  I was writing on the board so they could see and hopefully understand. 

 

Well apparently my kids are so used to short lessons that they can't handle it when it goes a little longer.  They were just getting so antsy.  Messing with my computer, pushing each other around, being nuts.

 

Is it a problem with me or them?  Should I just let it go and hope that all further repetition makes things sink in?  Or do I try to help them by digging deeper?

I don't really have any wisdom or experience here either…but I will say that we were in exactly that same place last year with my then 6 &7yos and we stopped using FLL and tried another route.  However, I still got blank looks when talking about parts of speech though!  They are just too abstract for my girls.  *I* am learning a lot though! :laugh:

 

I just wanted you to know you're not alone.  And it really may not be the curriculum, so I wouldn't rush out to replace it.  Take a break, maybe.  Or even try some other methods of presenting the information if you want.  I think that the whole point of grammar instruction in the early years is capitalizing on their memory, and having those things in their brains to pull out later when they can use them when they write.  Please, someone tell me if I'm wrong on this because this is why we keep plugging away. ;)

[Arcadia]

I think that the whole point of grammar instruction in the early years is capitalizing on their memory, and having those things in their brains to pull out later when they can use them when they write. Please, someone tell me if I'm wrong on this because this is why we keep plugging away. ;)

Grammar instruction taught my boys logical thinking in a way. My kids can't diagram a sentence correctly most of the time but understanding grammar has helped them when they learn German later. For example, the logic of verb conjugation in German is similar to english.

 

For writing hubby and I just ask our kids to check if the sentences make sense or can be misconstrued, and if the sentences flow well.

[amyk]

It's ok for them to memorize definitions without fully understanding them :) Grammar stage is for memorization, logic stage for understanding how all the parts of speech work together. When my daughter was in 8th grade I was memorizing these kinds of definitions with youngers and she chimed in, "someday you will really understand what that means!"

[mommymonster]

This is simplistic, but.... Schoolhouse Rock Grammar songs are amazing for learning parts of speech. Perhaps approaching it from a different direction would help? (Once they know the songs, you can also hum a few bars a a hint.)

[Miss Tick]

When we hit that I put a color-coded definition of an adverb up on the wall in front of the toilet.

 

They understood how adverbs and adjectives worked, it was just the definitions they couldn't remember. The adjective definition is shorter, but the adverb definition lends itself more to color-coding and visual interest.

[ZeeMommy]

I'm in the same boat with you this week with my 8 year old daughter.  She was having a hard time understanding the difference between adverbs and adjectives too.  I think she started to get it when I told her that adverbs describe action (verbs) and adjectives describe stuff (nouns).  Not exactly the best definition, but it clicked a little better for her.  I also did a few silly simple sentences with her to show the difference; she got to pick the adjective or adverb.  For example:  The cat ran.  The purple cat ran. (adjective).  The cat ran quickly. (adverb)   OR  My bottom hurt.  My huge bottom hurt. (adjective).  My bottom hurt enormously. (adverb).   Short and silly sometimes works better if it gives them something to remember.

 

I didn't really understand grammar much when I was around that age.  Adverbs and adjectives are both descriptive, so it's easy to understand why the difference would be confusing to a child.  A lot of adverbs end in -ly so that might make it simpler for now.